This is a blog about critical conversations, religion, politics, education, parenting, people and anything else that strikes my fancy.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Good luck Michael Bloomberg - Jews and Gentiles unite

I am a newcomer to the New York area.

I have kept abreast of its politics from my various homes around the country, from Oklahoma, Kentucky to Michigan and then Utah. In the last 20 years, I have visited the New York area to see family and have long dreamed of living in the greatest city in the world.

Recently, the place is buzzing with what Michael Bloomberg will and won't do.

I am saddened to hear both Jews and Gentiles say that he will never be president of the United States simply because he is a Jew. Is this really the United States of America? Have we really not progressed at all in the last century? Did Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and others die in vain? Arnold Schwarzenegger at one time held a green card, as do I. He is now the Governor of the amazing state of California - It is my belief that he has his sights set on the White House in years to come. Is it time to amend the Constitution so that foreign born residents (including 2 of my sons who were born overseas while their father served in the military) can achieve the highest office? Do we really have to wonder whether a Jew or Mormon or Muslim or woman or black or white person could or should hold the highest office? Is this really the America that I love?

Recently, I shared with a friend that after 18 years of residence, I am actually going to become a U.S. citizen this year. I could have been a German citizen years ago, as I met the residency requirement, but that was not my choice. Why so long, one might ask? I love being British - I love travelling to most countries in the world without a visa or papers or the looks that have become so common amongst our former friends and allies because of our foreign policies in the last years. I have always feared that I would have to renounce my heritage to become a citizen, as I was advised when I first started taking citizenship classes in Oklahoma in the early 1980's. A friend of mine who is also an immigration attorney indicates that the laws were changes in 1993 - I will never have to renounce my allegiance to Great Britain - I can be an American and maintain my heritage.

Our forefathers, whether they came from Europe, Africa or other parts, did not mean for us to become a homogenous society - they wanted us to retain our customs and bring all that is good to enrich America.

I am awaiting his announcement with bated breath - the first independent to run on the presidential ticket in all the years I can remember.

About Me

I am 48 years old, born and raised in London England - my parents are Jamaican - I lived in Germany for 7 years, speak fluent French and German and am now living in New York after 20 years of wandering between Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan, barely surviving Utah and love the diversity of religion, politics, thought, and people - did I say hot men????